


Aura

by Kiranagi, Kitsunekitto



Category: Video Blogging RPF, jacksepticeye
Genre: Egos becoming real, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Magic, More tags to be added, Sean McLoughlin Egos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2019-10-14 20:52:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17515709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiranagi/pseuds/Kiranagi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsunekitto/pseuds/Kitsunekitto
Summary: "Here's a question for you. If you could make your egos real, so you could meet them, would you?"Mark's question comes back to Jack as he stares at the scene in front of him. It was innocent, simply a joke made late in the night on the American's end, and Jack had shrugged it off, never gave it a proper answer, because while it might be cool to think about, it was impossible. No point in letting his imagination get away from him.But now, he wished he'd taken it seriously. Maybe then he could've imagined some way to handle this. Maybe he'd have some clue on how to react to the man getting to his feet in front of him, straightening out a lab coat before adjusting glasses and turning oh-so-familiar baby blues to Jack.





	1. Prologue: A Small Fraction Of The World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Here's a question for you. If you could make your egos real, so you could meet them, would you?"
> 
> Mark's question comes back to Jack as he stares at the scene in front of him. It was innocent, simply a joke made late in the night on the American's end, and Jack had shrugged it off, never gave it a proper answer, because while it might be cool to think about, it was impossible. No point in letting his imagination get away from him.
> 
> But now, he wished he'd taken it seriously. Maybe then he could've imagined some way to handle this. Maybe he'd have some clue on how to react to the man getting to his feet in front of him, straightening out a lab coat before adjusting glasses and turning oh-so-familiar baby blues to Jack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is a story written by two friends, spawned from an idea that spread into an entire universe!
> 
> Sami here, AKA Kiranagi. I wrote the prologue here, and it was a ton of fun! I hope y'all enjoy it, and check back for updates! ^-^

_"Here's a question for you. If you could make your egos real, so you could meet them, would you?"_

 

Mark's question comes back to Jack as he stares at the scene in front of him. It was innocent, simply a joke made late in the night on the American's end, and Jack had shrugged it off, never gave it a proper answer, because while it might be cool to think about, it was impossible. No point in letting his imagination get away from him.

 

But now, he wished he'd taken it seriously. Maybe then he could've imagined some way to handle this. Maybe he'd have some clue on how to react to the man getting to his feet in front of him, straightening out a lab coat before adjusting glasses and turning oh-so-familiar baby blues to Jack.

 

"...What is going on...?"

 

The sharp accent is what snaps Jack out of his stupor, and he lets out a breath as he runs a hand through his hair, trying to come up with something he could possibly say. He notes with faint amusement that the doctor's hair sports a light, minty color, like his own did so long ago.  _"And here I thought I'd never see that color on myself in real life again..."_

 

But it wasn't 'him', oh no. This man may be his spitting image, but he was very, very different in the end. Once upon a time, Jack would've loved to have a conversation with him. But he never thought that he ever actually would.

 

Seeing that the other is still staring at him like he's got two heads and three legs, Jack tosses any half-formed plans out the window and just goes for the first thing that pops into his head.

 

"Doctor Henrik von Schneeplestein, I presume?"

 

                                                                         ------------------------------------

                                                                                                    Aura  
  
                                                                            Prologue: A Small Fraction Of The World

                                                                         ------------------------------------

 

The good doctor jumps as he's finally addressed, and confusion clouds his gaze for a few moments before he jolts again and nods. "Ah... Yes, I believe so... And you are... Jack...?" He pauses, then shakes his head slightly, lips tugging down into a frown. "No, Seán..."

 

"You can call me either one, it doesn't matter to me..." Jack responds slowly, his shock stepping back to fuel more confusion. Henrik wasn’t acting like… Himself. Hell, he looked more confused than Jack did, and that was saying something. “Henrik, uh… Do you… Do you know what’s going on?”

 

The ego shakes his head, and Jack tries a different question. “What  _do_  you know…?”

 

“My name, your name… I-I believe I’m a doctor…” He appears to flounder for something, anything else, then just weakly shrugs, looking a bit lost.

 

Jack widens his eyes, understanding bleeding through everything else. “You… Have no idea who or where you are, do you?”

 

Another shake of the head. “Not really...” He looks around again, “I feel like I should know this place, but… There’s nothing but a blank.”

 

“Sh-shit, okay…” Jack releases a shaky breath, trying to wrap his head around all this. “Okay okay okay...  C’mon, let’s-- let’s sit down, I’ll explain what I can…”

 

Henrik nods, and follows the dark-haired man to sit on the bed, then watches him expectantly.

 

Jack gnaws his lower lip as he sits down, heavily, next to him, lost for words yet again. After all, how do you explain a life to someone who didn't exist a few minutes ago?

 

“Well… to start off, yeah, you're a doctor, o-of sorts. It's a little complicated…”

 

And that was the beginning. Over the next month, Henrik slowly remembered his ‘life', and Jack laid out some rules, so no one would discover that Henrik’s real now. They still don't have a clue on how the ego appeared, and they just hope it's nothing disastrous...

 

It was nearly two months later when Jack fell down the stairs.

 

He was just walking down, to get something to eat after a long recording session, when he was suddenly struck with a wave of dizziness and a headache that felt like it would split his skull. He dimly remembers crying out in pain and toppling over, toppling  _downwards,_ before there's another pain to his head and everything stops.

 

When he comes to, his vision is hazy, and refuses to focus. He's pretty sure someone is standing over him, speaking to someone else, but voices are muddling together and every sound seems muffled. He shuts his eyes again as his head and shoulder throb, and groans weakly, wondering if he was actually so pathetic that he fell down the stairs.

 

A sharp, snapping sound suddenly rings in his ears, derailing his thoughts and making him instinctively jolt away, his eyes flying open and a shocked cry escaping his lips. A yelp of pain quickly follows it as he puts weight on his right arm, but his vision clears up enough to see a man in a white coat standing over him, and blue eyes bright with concern.

 

“Hey, Henrik…” Jack grins sheepishly up at the doctor, carefully shifting his weight in hopes that his shoulder will stop hurting. “Uh… What’s up, doc?”

 

The answering groan makes Jack chuckle, and Henrik draws back from the bed, rolling his eyes and grumbling to himself. “He’s fine, it’s not like he worried me half to death or anything…”

 

“Sorry, sorry!” Jack sits up more properly, wincing as pain shoots through his arm again. “A-ahh… You just surprised me, I-I didn’t mean to worry you…” He groans, gritting his teeth as his head throbs, and only manages a weak protest as Henrik pushes him back down.

 

“Be careful and stay down there, you hit your head pretty badly and I'm not entirely certain you don't have a concussion.” The doctor scolds Jack, then turns away and starts working on something out of the Irishman’s sight. “You’re lucky he was right there when you fell, I was so deep in my work I didn’t even hear you.”

 

“He…?” Jack pushes himself up a little again, trying to use only his left arm, and looks over at the other. “He who?”

  
  
Henrik turns to gently push him down again, “Stay down there, and maybe I’ll tell you.” he takes an ice pack off the table next to him and carefully sets it on Jack's head, removing a melted one that Jack hadn't noticed in the process. “We aren't the only ones of yourself living in this house anymore, let's say.”

 

Jack lets out a sigh as the cold eases the throbbing, but furrows his eyebrows, confusion crossing his gaze at his ego's words. “What do you…” He trails off, then seems to deflate as he realizes what Henrik means. “...Another ego?”

 

A chuckle and a nod greets his question, and Jack sighs, “Which one is it? Chase? Jackieboy Man?”

  
  
“Chase…? I… I feel like I know that name…” The deeper, yet familiar voice startles Jack, as soft as it was, and he jolts to sit up again, letting out a cry as the ice pack slips off and pain shoots through his arm once more. “A-agh… Shit…” he slumps down, hissing through his teeth. “O-okay, bad idea…”

  
  
Henrik growls under his breath, “Of course it was, your shoulder is badly bruised! You fell down the stairs, for god’s sake!” He makes sure that Jack is comfortable, and replaces the ice pack, then looks off to the side, “Come on, then. No point staying in the shadows where you’ll scare him.”

 

Another figure steps over to the bed, and Jack jumps slightly, though not enough to cause the ripping pain from before, as he spots a white cat mask, blue eyes cautiously peeking out.

 

Henrik gestures to the masked man, “I’m sure you recognize Marvin. Marvin, this is Jack. You know his name, right?”

  
  
“Yes…” Marvin’s voice is indeed deeper than Jack’s own, but other than that, it sounds so similar Jack faintly wonders if he could prank one of his friends with this. Unaware of his thoughts, Marvin continues. “And I believe I remember something about you as well, Doctor… Schneeplestein?”

 

“Dr. Schneep is fine. Or Henrik, whichever you prefer. You seem to be regaining your head quicker than I did, so that’s good.” Henrik shakes his head, chuckling. “I hardly knew my own name when I first appeared.”

 

Jack releases a weak chuckle as well. “Yeah, it was definitely a pain to deal with at first… Not to mention freaky…” He smiles at the second ego, though he wisely stays lying down this time. “It’s nice to meet you, Marvin. Thanks for helping me when I… Tripped, I guess.”

  
  
Even with his mask, it’s clear that Marvin brightens up, his eyes shining through the holes. “You’re very welcome. I’m just glad that Dr. Schneep was around, I would’ve had no idea what to do otherwise…”

  
  
“Yeah, he tends to be a bit of a life saver, that’s for sure…” Jack murmurs, giving the doctor a thankful look. He returns to speaking to Marvin, and holds up his hand, slightly shaky, but relatively painless without any pressure. “Let’s just hope things will be less disastrous from here, for my head’s sake.”

 

Marvin laughs, a nice, soothing rumble that sort of reminds Jack of Mark’s voice, and shakes his hand. “At least now you have two people to make sure you don’t wind up hurting yourself again.”

  
  
“Hey!” Jack protests, his voice squeaking more than he’d like. “It’s not like I make a habit of randomly falling down the stairs! Come on, you guys, it’s not funny...!”

 

His pleas go ignored by his chuckling egos, and Jack can only sigh, wondering what deity he pissed off to get him into this mess.  _’People have been wanting to see Marvin again, at least I should be able to give them what they want in a month or so…’_

 

And that he did. Another Marvin video was up to lead in the beginning of March, and his subscribers went wild, so excited about the level of ‘acting’ and wondering if they’d get any bloopers. And oh, there were bloopers alright, but Jack kept them well under wraps, considering they included one where Marvin accidentally set a few papers on fire, via a spark that had sprung from his fingers when he snapped.

 

That’s how they discovered that Marvin had  _real_  magic. Real, and seemingly uncontrollable. It popped up at the worst times, and never seemed to do quite the same thing twice. Besides set things on fire, of course, it was always good at that. And everyone in the house got very good at putting them out. Luckily the flames didn’t give off much smoke, and didn’t really grow or spread, it just sat there and burned whatever it was on. Jack chalked it up to magic and didn’t question it, as long as normal old water could put them out, he was good.

 

It was during one of these times, while he’s going to put a- thankfully small- flame out, that he gets another mind-numbing headache, and sudden dizzy spell. Henrik still hadn’t figured out what caused it the first time, when he fell, and safe to say, they were all pretty worried about it. But it had been a few months since the last time, so they figured it was probably a one-time thing…

 

Jack stumbles against the wall in an effort to not collapse, squeezing his eyes shut and letting out a weak groan of pain, any words he attempted to form dying out as he felt like his brain turned to goo for a second. And then it was over. The pain vanished as suddenly as it appeared and the room stopped spinning so abruptly Jack could almost feel whiplash.

 

He opens his eyes, incredibly confused, and looks over at Marvin, whose gaze is dancing between Jack and the fire. The ego speaks, sounding nervous, “A-are you alright, Jack?”

 

Jack pushes away from the wall and shakes himself slightly, then nods and walks back over to the container of water he was about to pour on the fire. “Yeah, I'm-- I'm fine. It's gone.”

 

Marvin looks at confused as Jack is, not to mention even more worried for him, even as Jack carefully drowns the little flame. “You looked like you were in horrible pain… And it's just gone? And you're not  _worried_  about this?”

 

“Hey, at least I didn't fall down the stairs this time.” Jack smiles at the magician, though it's a bit forced.

 

His attempt at humor is ignored, however, and the magician glares through his mask. “This isn’t funny, Jack! Something could be seriously wrong! I still can’t understand why you wouldn’t let an actual doctor look at you after that…” He crosses his arms and turns to the side as he continues. “Don’t get me wrong, I trust Henrik with my life, but he doesn’t have the proper equipment and there are a million things that could’ve happened that he wouldn’t even  _notice…”_

 

As the masked ego pauses, he hears Jack’s voice, a bit farther away than it should be, and sounding a bit… Tense. “Uh… Marv? Ya might wanna get in here....”

 

Marvin turns back to see that, yes, Jack has left the room, and sighs heavily before looking in the direction the other’s voice came from, into the living room, as it happens. “I’m just trying to help you, Jack. It just happened now, and what if it happens and you fall again? Except it’s somewhere we can’t help you? This could be a serious-” _  
_

 

“Stop with the lecturing and get your ass in here!”

 

Marvin jumps slightly as Jack’s voice interrupts him, laced with annoyance and shaky with nerves, and he hurries towards it, the current topic forgotten for the time being.

 

He’s greeted by the sight of Jack, his hands behind his head and his gaze fixed firmly ahead, and a near perfect clone of Jack across the room, a familiar cap resting on his head and a Nerf gun drawn, pointed directly at Jack’s chest. The capped Jack shifts his stance, moving to point the gun at Marvin instead, and the magician holds his hands up as soon as he feels a sharp spark of magic from the supposed toy.

 

“Who the hell are you two?” Chase- because this  _has_ to be Chase- grits out, looking between them suspiciously. “Where am I? What the hell is going on?”

 

Marvin knew Chase well enough to tell that the man was just scared, and he couldn’t blame him. He was in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people, he hardly knew who he himself was… In any other situation, Marvin would go to comfort his friend, try to jog his memory, trigger a memory perhaps. But Chase clearly knew how to use that Nerf gun, and Marvin was getting the feeling that it wasn’t just a normal toy. He wasn’t keen on finding out the difference by experiencing it.

 

“Easy, Chase. We’re not gonna hurt you, I promise. Just put the gun down and we’ll explain everything, okay? You’re completely safe.” Jack tries to reason with Chase, which is probably for the best, considering he may have some vague memory about Jack, like he and Henrik had. But at the same time, Chase was riled up, and that very rarely ended well…

 

“How do you know my name!?” Chase’s voice goes a bit shrill as he points the gun back at Jack, his hands shaking, and Marvin starts trying to gather his magic in case he actually shoots it. Maybe he could try and throw up a shield? He’d probably just end up setting something else on fire, though…

 

“It’s me, Chase. Jack, or some people call me Seán. Do you know me…?” Marvin mentally applauds Jack for remembering to mention who he is, the YouTuber had seemed really tired recently, it was entirely possible that Jack would completely skip over that detail. And Chase and Jack were always very close, in Marvin’s memories, so his name  _must_ ring a bell...

 

Sure enough, Chase falters, his gun lowering slightly, but then his stance tenses again and the weapon’s trajectory returns to Jack’s chest, as the man growls out. “No.”

 

Marvin’s heart sinks. While he supposed Chase really might not know Jack, it was more likely that he was simply too wound up to care, and if so, they might have a serious problem. Chase’s temper was nothing to laugh at, if he’s freaking out this much, and he doesn’t know either of them at all, it would be very, very difficult to calm him down enough to properly explain.

 

He searches desperately for a solution, a way out of this, or even a way to get Chase to listen, but after coming up blank for several minutes, he focuses on the man again. The best idea he can come up with for now is seeing if Chase knows  _his_ name, so it’s at least worth a shot.

 

But before Marvin can even say a word, Chase is lowering the weapon, falling out of his scared stance as his eyes go wide, and he’s staring next to Marvin, a little behind him, maybe. “U-uh…” Is that... Worry, in his eyes…?

 

Marvin follows his gaze, and jolts in place when he sees just what Chase is staring at, a sharp burst of worry flaring up in his own chest.

 

Jack is crying. His shoulders shaking, a hand covering his mouth to muffle his gasping little breaths, and tears rolling down his cheeks. Marvin idly wonders when this started, and how long he didn’t notice it, but, once again, he’s stopped before he can even start.

 

Chase slips the Nerf gun into a plastic holder on his belt and walks over to Jack, hesitantly reaching out for him, “Hey, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…”

 

Jack forces a smile, though the tears show no sign of stopping. “I-I know, Chase. It's just… B-been a lot lately, I'm… Really tired, i-is all…” He looks away, trying to pull himself together.

 

“And me pointing my frigging’ gun at you definitely didn't help…” Chase mutters, then slowly, hesitantly, pulls the other into a hug. “Sorry, man. I do know you, b-but that's about all I can remember, so I sorta freaked out…”

 

“I-it's-” Jack tries to stammer out as he hugs Chase back, but Chase cuts him off mid sentence.

 

“Don't you dare just say it's okay, because it's not.” His voice is firm at first, but softens as he continues. “But thanks.”

 

Jack chuckles, his voice thick, then pulls away slowly and wipes his eyes. “A-anyway, you deserve an explanation… L-let me just get Henrik, y-you stay in here with Marvin.”

 

Marvin tenses as his name is said, and fiddles with his mask as Jack leaves and Chase looks at him curiously.

 

“Marvin, huh…? That name's… Really familiar…” Chase frowns, thoughtfully. “Do we know each other…?”

 

The magician cracks a sad smile, fingers ghosting over the strap of his mask before his hand falls back to his side and he looks back at their newest guest. “Yes, we do. We're… Good friends.”

 

“Oh…” Chase rubs the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “I’m sorry, I don’t…”

 

Marvin holds up a hand to stop him, his voice kind. “It’s alright, I understand. I didn’t remember anything either, at first.” He can’t help but smile, his breath hitching in his throat. “You’ll remember in time. For now, I’m just… I’m glad you’re here, Chase.”

 

Chase smiles back after a moment, looking a bit hopeful. “I’m glad to be here, Marvin. And I hope I remember you soon.”

 

After that, Jack returns, with Henrik close behind, and Marvin stays back as explanations are given to their new housemate. He can't do much else, with Chase so close and yet farther than he'd ever been. All he could do now was wait, he supposed…

 

He didn't have to wait long.

 

Just two weeks after Chase appeared, the father bursts into Marvin's room and tackles the magician in a hug, knocking them both over in the process. Marvin was frozen in surprise, and Chase was just apologizing over and over again. Thankfully, by the time Jack got up there to see what was going on, Marvin seemed to figure out that Chase remembered, and the two were hugging and laughing, happy to be reunited.

 

Jack shakes his head fondly at the memory of the two’s reunion, as he waits to cross the street. He’d been looking for a bigger house for sale, since his current one is a bit cramped with three egos now living with him, and he thinks that he finally found a good one. Now he he just has to make sure everyone else likes it, so he took a few pictures to show them.

 

The light changes, and he starts to cross, pulling himself out of his thoughts to pay attention because drivers sometimes didn't.

 

And then he stumbles, as his head  _pounds_  with sudden, splitting pain, and he feels like his legs turn to jelly as his vision blurs, doubles, and his head feels like it's full of water, too heavy and unbalancing him.

 

_The screech of brakes, and the sharp blare of a horn. Screaming._

 

The pain and dizziness stop, just as suddenly as they began, but it's too late. The car skidding towards him on the wet road almost seems to be moving in slow motion, but Jack is frozen, his eyes slamming shut as he braces himself.

 

Then, something slams into his side, instead of his front, and shoves him to the ground, the thing ending up on top of him and knocking the air from his chest, as well as causing a few scrapes down his arms from the hard pavement he'd been knocked onto.

 

The car whizzes by, and the thing- the  _person, did someone just save his life?-_ groans, then props themselves up on their arms to let Jack breathe, their voice laced with worry, and a bit of an accent he can't quite place, but otherwise so, so familiar.

 

“H-hey, are you okay!?”

 

Jack almost doesn't open his eyes, hoping that he misheard the voice but knowing he didn't. He almost shoves the man on top of him off, scrambles up, and runs, refusing to even acknowledge who had saved him. He almost pretends to be unconscious, even, for a chance to get away. But he can't, the man would have nowhere to go. He felt… Responsible for him, just like all the others.

 

So instead, Jack opens his eyes and looks into the matching blues above him, surrounded by blue fabric.

 

“Y-yeah, I'm fine… Thanks, Jackie.”

 

Jackie grins, looking proud. “That’s me! Jackieboy Man, local hero! Glad I could help!” He hops to his feet, cape fluttering behind him, and reaches down to help Jack up, quietly admitting, “I don’t really know where we are, though…”

 

Jack gratefully takes the hand to help him stand, and glances around, making sure no one’s recognized Jackie, as he gives a brief explanation. “We’re in Brighton, England. The UK. Let me take you to my place, and I’ll explain everything, and we’ll eat some cookies. Sound good?”

The hero grins, bouncing slightly in place. “I’ll never say no to cookies!”

 

Jack can’t help but grin back. He had actually been kind of hoping Jackie would show up, since he’d accepted that the others probably would. And the hero saved his life on top of it, so he really can’t complain.

 

As they make their way to Jack’s home- after escaping the worried people that had crowded around them- Jack tries to figure out what had happened. He was just crossing the street, and he got hit with another one of those weird dizzy spells and headache…

 

And then Jackie showed up, right as it left.

 

Jack stops in his tracks, feeling like everything just suddenly clicked into place.

 

When Henrik showed up, on that very first day, Jack had gotten a dizzy spell, and brief headache. But it happened right as he stood up so he just kind of figured he needed some water or something.

 

He got a dizzy spell and headache two months later and fell down the stairs because of it, waking up to discover that Marvin had appeared, and helped Jack when he discovered him at the bottom of the stairs almost immediately after he fell.

 

He got a dizzy spell and headache, and then entered another room to discover Chase, newly-appeared and jumpy.

 

He got a dizzy spell and headache, and Jackie was suddenly  _there,_ saving his life.

 

Jackie stops, and looks back at Jack, confused as to why he stopped.  
“Hey, you okay? You didn’t hit your head or anything, right?”

 

“...Every time…” Jack doesn’t hear Jackie, lost in his own thoughts. “Every time I got dizzy, one of them showed up, how did I never…?”

 

The hero waves a hand in front of the YouTuber’s face. “Hello? You still in there?”

 

  
“I’m so  _stupid!”_

 

Jack’s sudden outburst causes Jackie to scramble back, a yelp of shock tearing out of his throat. He hardly has time to recover as Jack grips his suit, grinning.  
“Of course it’s connected to me,  _you guys_ are connected to me! You’re my egos! Why didn’t I think of the fact that I’d have some reaction…?”

 

“U-uh…” The hero stammers, wondering if he should feel assaulted. “I-I have no idea what you’re talking about…?”

 

The other laughs, and lets go of him. “Right, yeah, sorry. I’ll explain at home, I need to tell Marvin about this…!”

 

He grips Jackie’s hand, “C’mon, this way!” and starts running, pulling his ego along with him. Jack feels more sure of this than he has of  _anything_ in a long time, and maybe this will help them figure out just  _how_  his egos are all appearing…

 

He just needs a chance to prove it.

 

And a month later, he gets that chance.

 

Jackie was adjusting well, though it could be a bit of a challenge to make him stay in the house and not go traipsing around trying to help people. He and Henrik also seemed to know each other well, though Jack was kind of afraid to ask about it.

 

They’re unpacking, as they had finally moved to a bigger place the week before, and everything was still a mess, but the place was slowly becoming home. Jack explained his move to his viewers as best as he could, tip-toeing around the truth and not really revealing how big his new house really was, and they seemed to believe it.

 

Jack had just put down a box, and turned to grab the scissors to open it, when his head pounds, and his vision blurs, causing him to stumble and fall against Chase, nearly knocking them both over.

 

Everyone stops what they’re doing to look at him in alarm, and Chase holds Jack up, eyes wide. “Hey, hey, easy. Take a deep breath, man, we don’t need you getting hurt...”

 

The pain disappears like it always does, and as soon as his vision snaps back into focus, Jack pushes away from Chase and looks around, a little tense.  
“....Jameson? Jameson Jackson?”

  
  
It’s silent, with everyone holding their breath, to see if Jack’s theory was actually right. But after a few, long moments, Jack’s shoulders slump in disappointment. “Damn it, I really thought…”

 

And then there’s a quiet knocking sound, before Marvin gasps softly, and Chase nudges Jack to turn.

 

He looks towards the sound, and can’t help a grin, seeing the man peeking out around the doorway, his fist paused right above the wood. Jack steps closer to greet him, holding out his hand.  
“Hello, Jameson. My name is Jack. Welcome to our home.”

 

The newest ego blinks at him in surprise, then smiles, and tips his hat before taking Jack’s hand to shake it.

 

Chase laughs, and crosses his arms, a grin spreading across his own face. “What d’ya know, you were right… It’s nice to see you, Jamie! Welcome to the chaos.”

 

Jack steps back so the others can welcome their newest housemate, in their own ways, and he smiles, glad that he at least has  _some_  idea of what to expect. But he can’t stop the worry clawing at his gut.  
Because he has six egos. The first five appeared in a seemingly random order, and now… There was only one left.

 

Jack only hopes that the eventual arrival of his darker side won’t spell an end to their happy days.


	2. Roll Call: the gangs all together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He finds everyone in the living room, Henrik and Chase in the middle of the room, so close they’re nearly touching. Jackie, Jameson, and Marvin are off to the side on the floor, their card game now abandoned. They were all staring at something behind Henrik and Chase.
> 
> He checked over them, making sure that everyone was ok, “Morning everyone.” The sudden noise startled all of them, Jackie and Marvin are on their feet in a second, moving to loosely shield Jameson. Chase and Henrik quickly move apart from each other. There, in the corner of the room, just behind the two, about as stable as a newborn fawn, stood Anti.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm Eko! It was super fun to write this, and it's been a joy to be working with Sami. I hope you you enjoy this as much as I did making it!
> 
> Update: We've created a tumblr for this! It's called awakened-auras, we'll be posting the story there as well. Feel free to come check it out!

To say Jack’s life was exciting would be an understatement. There was never a dull moment in the Septic and McLoughlin household, his egos made quite sure of that. The house was never quiet between the six of them, someone always awake at odd hours of the night. Sometimes the noise would make it difficult to record, especially when they decided to play Mario Kart, that game was both a blessing and a curse. but the boys made sure to keep it down usually, and always found endearing ways to make it up to him if they didn't.

Today was a little different, it wasn’t common for the boys to outright forget that he was recording, but Jack could hear yelling through his headphones. And not the excited kind. It wasn't uncommon for playful fighting, but this sounded too heated to be the usual bickering. Jack groaned, rubbing his hands over his face, he just wanted to get through this recording, then he would go check on them. His head was killing him all of the sudden, and the accompanied dizziness almost making his face have a close call with the desk. 

It stopped as suddenly as it came. That was his first clue, his second, the deafening silence in the other room. Jack stopped everything, nearly tossing his headphones in the rush to get them off and get out the door. The egos were never this quiet, and to be so so suddenly was not good. Especially after a headache like that, the last one had been a little over a month ago. Resulting in Jamie's appearance.

He finds everyone in the living room, Henrik and Chase in the middle of the room, so close they’re nearly touching. Jackie, Jameson, and Marvin are off to the side on the floor, their card game now abandoned. They were all staring at something behind Henrik and Chase.

He checked over them, making sure that everyone was ok, “Morning everyone.” The sudden noise startled all of them, Jackie and Marvin are on their feet in a second, moving to loosely shield Jameson. Chase and Henrik quickly move apart from each other. There, in the corner of the room, just behind the two, about as stable as a newborn fawn, stood Anti.

He hasn’t taken notice of anyone yet, too busy trying to get his balance, Jack can’t help it, Anti’s noise of triumph, over finally finding his footing, is adorable. Even more so when he being finally notices everyone, “Hi.” It was almost shy, but his face split into an uncharacteristic smile. He doesn’t miss Chase’s flinch, nor Anti’s. 

He feels bad, nobody is willingly going to greet him, so he takes the initiative, “Hello Anti.” The smile that splits across the demon’s face is so uncharacteristic and genuine, that Jack can’t help but smile too. Anti bounces on his heels a bit, like an excited child, and a glitch distorts his body for a second. Just long enough to make the other egos uncomfortable, their quiet murmuring slows, and for Anti to completely freeze. 

It's concerning when he sees real fear in every move that Anti makes while examining himself. And it hits him, Of course Anti has no clue what’s going on, unfamiliar with everything even himself, and his stress is just causing more glitches to rip through his body. Causing him to jolt, small sounds of distress leaving him with each wave. 

The others are standing closer now, when had they started moving to shield him? “Guys, you need to chill.” The silence that had held all of them is suddenly broken, and everyone is trying to talk over each other, still trying to keep mostly quiet. JJ was signing too fast for anyone to read, but Jack swore he saw ‘calm’ multiple times.

Chase is the first to be heard clearly over the others, his voice a harsh whisper, “Chill? This is Anti we’re talking about! Do you not know what he’s done to all of us!?” The anger and anxiety was practically bleeding off of him. 

“Chas-”

Jackie was quicker, “You seriously cannot be asking us to be calm around that glitch!”, interrupting before Jack could explain. They were all talking over each other again hushed tones slowly getting louder. 

“Enough!” That got all of their attention, “Guys! He has no idea what’s going on, for fucks sake he barely knows who he even is!” 

“How do I make it stop?” It’s barely audible over everyone else, but just like that everything is silent again. There are tears pouring down Anti’s face, a hiccup making his body jolt slightly, yeah no, that was enough of that.

Jack’s hurried over to the glitch before anyone else can react, gently gripping his arms to try and give him something to ground himself. Speaking in a low voice, he attempts to comfort the new ego. “Hey, Anti, I know you’re freaking out, but I need you to listen to me. Take a deep breath, ignore everyone else, and listen to my voice.”

Another glitch rips through Anti at the contact, but he looks up. Green, tear-filled eyes meet calm blue ones, and the ego shakily follows Jack’s instructions. He takes a deep breath, and another few for good measure, then twists his hands to grab at Jack’s arms in return, the static and stray pixels slowly fading as Anti focuses on Jack’s steady form. The tension in the room slowly dying the longer Jack holds Anti and nothing happens.

The younger shifts slightly, his body mostly hidden by Jack’s, but now peeking over his shoulder. “...Why are you all scared of me?” Jack can hear the others shuffle around behind him, that was a loaded question. He stole a glance at them, Chase had grabbed Henrik’s hand, Jameson had put a hand to his own throat, and Jackie and Marvin were shoulder to shoulder comforting each other subtly. He could only begin to imagine what it had brought up for the others. 

Anti’s body had begun to shake again, “It’s too much.” his grip was getting tighter on Jack’s arms, not enough to cause pain yet though.

“Anti?” His breathing was picking up again, it was confusing, he had just calmed down. Why was he panicking again? Jack didn’t understand what was going on. 

“Please make them stop,” The younger was starting to cry again, “it’s too much.”

Jack may not have understood, but this poor boy had cried too many times in his extremely short existence. He turned them slightly, so he could address the others. “Guys, I'm gonna need all of you to leave the room please. We'll talk more later, okay?”

Nobody moved, staring at him in disbelief. Jamie's slow movements caught his attention, the young man suddenly nodding to himself. Moving so his signing can be seen, _**‘I trust that you know what you're doing Jack,’**_ he's gently grabbing Chase's hand, making slow circles on it with his thumb while signing slowly to the overwhelmed father _**‘why don't we go play a game?’**_ Chase looked to him quickly then to Henrik before nodding, the two walking out, Chase quietly mumbling to Jamie. 

Marvin managed to heard Jackie out of the living room mere moments after, with the promise of whatever ice cream Jackie wanted.

“And then there were three”, Henrik just stood there for second before sighing defeatedly, finally moving to leave, the urge to get away from Anti had won out now that everyone else had left. “I'll be taking care of some papers,” Henrik lingered in the entryway, his voice laced with worry and fondness “If you need anything Jack…” 

He couldn't help but smile, they were all just concerned for his safety after all, “I'll call for one of you, Henrik, I promise.” but they also had faith that Jack could handle himself. 

With that the two were left alone, and he could finally get a better look at the newest ego. Anti was small, maybe the smallest of everyone in the house. He wasn't really that different from his canon, but his hair was a lighter green, almost blonde. And though he had yet to see Anti's neck clearly, Jack hadn't seen any blood.

It took some maneuvering, but they'd ended up on the couch. Anti curled up, leaning into his side, practically melting as Jack ran his fingers through his hair, “Are you alright now Anti?”

Anti’s voice was muffled, “Thank you...Jack, Sean?” he pulled away slightly, finally relaxed again, to Jack's relief. Anti had pulled back enough to just make his neck visible. Thankfully there was no cut, but there was a scar, it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Just a thick, pale line across Anti's neck.

“You can call me either, I'm sorry about all of that though.” 

“They were loud?” Anti looked confused, like he wasn’t quite sure what he was saying.

He'd ask Anti about that later, but right now Anti deserved some rest. “Hey, how about I show you your room?”

The youngest ego lit up instantly, “I have a room?!” only to grimace as his excitement caused a small glitch. 

Jack rubbed his back to soothe any aches Anti may have had. “Of course, well it’s a guest bedroom, but you can have it.”

The room was cozy, baby blue wallpaper, a small bed in the corner, and a dresser up against the opposite wall. “What do you think? Closet is a bit small, but you have a nice dresser to make up for that.”

Anti looked on in wonder, already walking over to the bed, “It's really nice, thank you for letting me have it.” a yawn interrupting him.

“Of course Anti, dinner is in a couple hours, but I'll come let you know when it's ready.” Anti had laid down, already half asleep, trying his hardest to keep listening to Jack. The first day was always the hardest on the egos, he went digging through the closet for a blanket. “I know you probably have a lot of question, but we'll get to them later ok.” 

“ok.” Anti rubbed at his face tiredly, and Jack's heart just about melted at the sleepy tone. He threw out the blanket over Anti and tucked him in, his breathing had evening out almost instantly. And as Jack turned out the light, ready to leave, he lingered in the doorway.

“Welcome to the family Anti, rest well.” The door clicked gently shut, bathing the sleeping ego in quiet darkness.


	3. Changes and Growth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He’s a glitch,” Chase hisses out, standing up. “A virus. A monster. You can’t just expect us to get along with him!”
> 
> “He cried yesterday! Twice!” Jack shoots back, returning the glare. “He doesn’t remember anything, Chase! All he knows is that he appeared somewhere he doesn’t recognize, and the group of people there seem to hate him for no reason! How would you feel if that’s how Marvin and I treated you, when you first showed up!?”
> 
> Chase winces, and his anger dies down a little, as he allows Marvin to gently push him back down in his seat. Marvin then lets out a sigh.
> 
> “I get where you’re coming from, Jack, I really do. But Anti’s going to remember, just like all of us did. How much do you think his personality is going to change when that happens?” He gestures to himself, and the other egos. “Sure, we all have a bit more personality than what you created, but we all stick to the baseline of what you came up with. Chances are, Anti will too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOOOOO BOY Y'ALL I AM SO SORRY  
> I wanted to have this out in March but writer's block came up with a vengeance like "do you want to write this??? haaaaaaaaaaaaaa too bad"  
> Plus, I have a job, and when I get home from that I just wanna watch a simple show and not think, so that definitely cut off my writing time a good bit  
> Ugh  
> I am happy with how this turned out though! It went where I wanted it to, and all the characters cooperated with me which is a blessing, lemme tell ya  
> So now we're here, I'm sipping my peach-flavored tea that I just made, and we gonna post this before I go to work, so I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> and keep an eye out, there may be a little something else that I post while Eko is writing chapter 3~

Anti slept right on until the morning, and Jack chose not to disturb him for dinner, letting the youngest ego sleep and giving himself some time to make sure the others calm down.

 

That in itself was… A challenge.

 

“You've got to be _kidding_ me!” Chase exclaims, nearly knocking over his tea. “No! No way! That _thing_ is not staying in the room next to mine!”

 

Jack winces at his angry tone, and moves the cup away from the edge of the table before he responds to the angry father. “It’s the only furnished spare we have right now, I’m not gonna make him sleep on the floor. And he’s _not_ a ‘thing’, he’s a person, just like you.”

 

“He’s a _glitch_ ,” Chase hisses out, standing up. “A virus. A _monster._ You can’t just expect us to get along with him!”

  
  
“He cried yesterday! Twice!” Jack shoots back, returning the glare. “He doesn’t _remember_ anything, Chase! All he knows is that he appeared somewhere he doesn’t recognize, and the group of people there seem to hate him for no reason! How would _you_ feel if that’s how Marvin and I treated you, when you first showed up!?”

  
  
Chase winces, and his anger dies down a little, as he allows Marvin to gently push him back down in his seat. Marvin then lets out a sigh.

  
  
“I get where you’re coming from, Jack, I really do. But Anti’s going to remember, just like all of us did. How much do you think his personality is going to change when that happens?” He gestures to himself, and the other egos. “Sure, we all have a bit more personality than what you created, but we all stick to the baseline of what you came up with. Chances are, Anti will too.”

  
  
The YouTuber lets out a sigh of his own and leans back, rubbing his face. “Well maybe we can show him that we’re his friends, that he doesn’t have to hurt anyone, _before_ he remembers… Either way, you guys treating him like some kind of wild beast isn’t gonna help.”

 

“You’re right,” Henrik mutters, staring into his coffee mug. “But I don’t like it. You don’t know what we have memories of him doing, Jack…”

 

Everyone shifts uncomfortably. Jameson lifts a hand to his throat, Jackie rubs at his arms. Chase clenches his fists.

 

Jack sees it all. And he feels bad, he really does, but….  
Remembering how Anti broke down, so easily, and remembering the smile, and excitement on his face when the youngest found out he had a room of his own…   
He honestly couldn’t believe that he would hurt anyone.

  
  
“I don’t know, you’re right about that. But this isn’t necessarily the same Anti,” Jack murmurs, looking around the table at all of them. “Even before you guys remembered, you all _acted_ like yourselves, somewhat. Anti… Anti was scared, yesterday. Scared and lost and upset. The Anti you know wouldn’t be like that, even without his memories.”

 

That causes everyone to go silent, whether in thought or stubbornness, and Jack quietly adds. “I just want you all to give him a chance, before you condemn him to unforgiveness for something he might not have even done.”

 

His own words ring in his head as he walks to the now-occupied room and softly knocks on the door. Jack believed in what he said, but he couldn’t help worrying about what _would_ happen when Anti remembered, if he ever did…

 

He’s shaken out of his thoughts as the door opens, and Anti greets him, rubbing his eyes and mid-yawn. “Is it time for dinner already…?”

  
  
Jack can’t help but smile at the youngest. “Actually, it’s morning. I decided to let you sleep last night, but I’m sure you’re hungry now. Breakfast is downstairs.”

 

Anti smiles, looking hopeful. “Is there any coffee?”

 

He can’t help a laugh. “Of course there is! There’s always coffee in this house, it’s the lifeblood of most of us. Marvin also made pancakes, and he makes the _best_ pancakes, you’re in for a treat!”

 

Anti nods, looking excited like a kid in a candy store. “Okay!”

 

The two head downstairs. There's silence between them, but it's calm, comfortable, until they reach the kitchen.

 

Then, the entire atmosphere shifts.

 

Anti stops mid-step, a noticeable shiver running through his body before he curls in on himself, looking unsettled.

 

Everyone had stopped, and started staring at him, silently. Anti swallows, glancing between them.

 

“Uh… G-good morning…?” He speaks hesitantly, sounding uncertain.

 

The others all glance at each other, until Jackie sighs and looks at Anti, offering the glitch a smile.  
“Good morning, Anti. Would you like some breakfast?”

 

It's clear how much Anti relaxes from the friendly tone, and he nods, giving the hero a grateful smile in return. “Yeah, I'd love some, thanks. Some coffee too, if it's not any trouble.”

 

“Oh yeah, of course!” Jackie waves Anti over, and the two work on getting him some food, Jackie talking idly with the glitch, asking how he slept, if he had any dreams.

 

Jack shoots a glare at the other egos, who at least have the decency to look sheepish, and goes to get his own breakfast, giving the still-nervous Anti a reassuring smile.  
He had a feeling that today was going to be a very long, complicated day.

 

And his feeling was confirmed when he heard yelling, not a few hours later.

 

Jack rushes into the room, looking around. “What happened? What's going on?”

 

He's greeted with Chase glaring at Anti, one hand on the Nerf gun clipped to his belt, just one movement away from drawing it.  
Anti is on the other side of the room, his eyes wide with fear as he holds his hand against his chest.  
“I-I'm sorry,” The demon stammers out, after noticing Jack come in. “I j-just… it was a-an accident, I swear!”

 

“Like hell it was!” Chase practically spits at him. “You don’t draw blood on accident!”

 

Anti flinches back, and Jack steps between the two, holding up his hands. “Okay, everyone calm down. Chase, show me.”

 

The father growls at Anti, but holds out his arm, showing the bleeding scratch marks.  
“I told you this was a bad idea…”  
Jack ignores his angry mutters and inspects the wound, then sighs. “It’s just a scratch, it’s not even that deep. It’s not like you haven’t gotten worse, there was no reason to yell at him.”

 

“But he-” Chase protests immediately, but Jack cuts him off with a shake of the head.  
“If you’re really worried about it, go tell Henrik. But I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

 

He attempts to protest for a little longer, but eventually gives in and walks off. Whether to see the doctor or just sulk, Jack doesn't know.

 

Jack turns to Anti, setting that aside for the moment.  
“What happened…?”

 

“H-he tripped,” Anti mumbles, still holding his arm close against him. “I tried t-to help him up, and he j-jolted away, and I ended up scratching him…”

 

“So it was an accident?” Jack confirmed, and Anti nodded.

  
  
“And you apologized?”

 

Another nod.

 

Jack smiles and puts a hand on the glitch's shoulder. “Then you did everything you were supposed to. Chase overreacted, is all.”

 

“H-he was scared of me…” Anti trembles, slowly wrapping his arms around himself. “E-everyone is always scared of m-me, even Jackie… Did I d-do something…?”

 

“Oh, Anti…”  
Jack pulls him into a hug, rubbing circles over his back. “No one's scared of you…”  
He murmurs it to him, knowing very well it wasn't true. “You just remind them of someone, that's all… You didn't do anything…”

  
  
“Th-then why does it f-feel so bad…? Why do I feel guilty…?”

 

Jack’s heart sinks. That… Can’t be good…  
“I… I don’t know, Anti. But you didn’t do anything to them, I promise…”

  
  
The youngest nods, just a little, and Jack pulls back to smile at him. “Hey. Wanna play a video game together?”

  
  
Anti blinks at him for a moment, then grins, and Jack’s heart melts at the sight.   
“Y-yeah, sure!”

 

And that was how it was. For _three months,_ that's how it was. In three months, Anti didn't remember a single thing.

 

For a while, none of the other egos knew how to treat him. They were all waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to suddenly remember- or at least _start_ remembering, but… Nothing.  
Jackie played some video games with him and Jack.   
Marvin showed him his favorite tricks.  
Henrik started teaching him how to cook, and Jameson started teaching him sign language.

 

And Anti _thrived._  
The youngest ego was hardly ever seen without a smile on his face now, and it made the whole house seem a bit brighter to everyone.  
Everyone… Except Chase.

 

No matter what they tried, what they said, Chase didn't trust Anti, or want to be anywhere near him. No matter how Anti acted, Chase wanted nothing to do with him.

 

That made things… Difficult, but they were doing their best, trying to make sure Chase didn't try to fight Anti or something. But it was nice. They were a family, in their own way. They cared about each other.

 

So of course they were worried when Anti came down for breakfast, looking like he hadn't slept at all, and seeming… unsettled.

 

“Anti?” Jackie looks over from where he's just finishing up breakfast, a small frown on his face. “You okay?”

 

Anti jumps at the words, a small glitch ripping through him as he looks at Jackie in alarm. “O-oh, uh-”

 

Jack stands up, slowly, in an effort to not scare Anti.

 

“Anti…?”

 

Anti relaxes after a moment, but he still looks uncomfortable, even with his sheepish smile. “S-sorry, I guess I'm a bit jumpy…”

 

“What's wrong?” Marvin questions, ignoring how Chase huffs into his tea. “Did you have a bad dream?”

 

“S-something like that…” Anti gets his coffee and sits down, sipping it and staying quiet, instead of talking immediately like he normally does. Everyone exchanges worried glances.

 

“Do you want to talk about it…? It's better to not keep things bottled up.” Jackie softly asks him.

 

“I…”

  
  
“How ‘bout you have this conversation with people who actually care?” Chase grumbles around his cup, staring down at the table. “Like, after breakfast, when I’m not here.” 

 

“Chase!” Jackie glares at the dad. "This isn't the time for that!”

 

“Look, it’s all well and good that you guys wanna be friends, but we need to face the facts!” Chase abandons his drink and stands up, glaring. “One of these days, he’s just gonna go back to the Anti we know! _I_ for one would like if at least _one_ of us was waiting for the knife to come flying in! He’s just a-”

 

“Chase! That’s enough!” Jack marches over to him. “You’re crossing a line, now!"

 

“But he’s-”

  
  
“-sorry, I’m s-sorry…” It’s just a mumble, barely heard above the shouting, but it makes everyone stop and look, with differing levels of concern.

  
  
Anti backs away from the table, his arms wrapped around himself as he trembles. Glitches rip through his body, and his voice is thick and shaky with emotion.   
“I-I’ll just… G-go back to m-my room, ‘m sorry…”

  
  
“Anti, wait, he didn’t-”

 

But it was too late.  
Anti vanished in a flurry of pixels, leaving the room in uncomfortable silence.

 

And leaving Jack with a really, really bad feeling...


	4. Elemental Symptoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was almost 7 pages long, and can legitimately say that it's the most I've ever written willingly. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it -Eko

He felt...weird, but that wasn't new. There had been an obvious, escalating, tension in the house, but it seemed to be affecting Jack on a psychical level unlike the others. His head was a constant mess, unable to focus with constant worsening headaches. And Marvin's magic wasn't helping anymore, not that he was going to tell Marvin that or Henrik for that matter. There was something else at play and nobody really knew what it was. 

 

Henrik thought it was tension headaches, caused by stress from trying to keep the peace between almost everyone and Chase. He wasn't wrong, but Jack could feel, well, something. It was like his body was reacting to them, the reaction getting stronger by the day. Whenever any of the egos got riled up and actually angry, or really, any strong emotion, Jack swore he could feel it. It wasn't in a way he could ignore either, how could you ignore your body slowly setting itself on fire? Especially after yesterday morning's incident.

 

He had began to overheat, which honestly was becoming disconcertingly common, but was usually tolerable. That is, until Jackie and Chase had started to fight, the hero had taken to Anti after he'd proven to be rather clumsy. So when Chase had continued his bad attitude through the day, Jackie had tackled him, the two getting into a fist fight on the living room floor. 

 

Jack had almost dropped a soapy plate at the sudden yelling, already on edge from stress and worry, he hadn't been able to get Anti out of his room or even get a response from him. His hands had gone numb when he'd touched Anti's door, they were so cold, like they'd been left in the snow for far too long. He had been hoping the hot water from doing dishes would warm them back up, it wasn't really working.

 

Calling for Marvin, Jack had gone to try and break up the fight, only to nearly fall over from dizziness as his body had started to burn. And other than vaguely knowing that Jackie had given Chase a black eye, something being broken, and that they had needed to be pulled apart by not only Marvin. But Henrik as well, which spoke volumes about how bad that fight was, it had all been a hazy blur.

 

He had woken up in Henrik's room, covered with every ice pack in the house, and then some. He remembered seeing Henrik wildly gesturing at Marvin in the doorway, who was trying to calm him, the doctor was clearly stressed, but Jack couldn't focus on what was being said giving in to sleep. And then JJ was there, though he'd rushed off as soon as Jack had woken up, he came back with Henrik trailing close behind.

 

Apparently JJ had come in to see what the commotion was about and ended up breaking the plate Jack had been washing to get everyone's attention. Henrik had said he'd been completely unresponsive at that point and had a fever, he was keeping very tight lipped about just how bad it was, just that it would have been bad had Henrik not taken control of the situation so quickly. He had done just about everything short of an ice bath to get his temp down, Jack had been out the rest of the day and almost through the next. 

 

That had been yesterday, and Jack wasn't having any luck recording, still too distracted by the situation with Anti and Chase to give the video his full attention. There was a knock at the door, startling him out of his thoughts. He just sighed, as his character died yet again, and began to shut down the game and recording equipment. Not really paying attention as the office door was opened and closed.

 

Until Jackie was standing right next to him, "Sorry to interrupt."

 

"It's ok Jackie, just getting done." He leaned back closing his eyes, His head was hurting again. Jackie must have noticed as hands were suddenly running gently through his hair before starting to make small circles at his temples, warmth slowly seeping in. 

 

"Didn't Schneep tell you that you shouldn't record for a couple days?" The only thing that kept Jack from jolting up and making his head hurt worse, was Jackie suddenly putting a hand on his chest, firmly keeping him in the chair. 

 

"Easy Jack, I thought you saw me come in with Jackie." Deft hands started up again, and Jackie patted his shoulder in apology, the sensation of Marvin's magic was more prominent this time.

 

"Guess I wasn't paying attention, and no, Schneep said I shouldn't record _a lot_ , huge difference!" He reached up and poked at the nose of Marvin's mask, getting a mock offended look from the magician.

 

"Of course my mistake, although you would think that you would have learned by now not to record when you're this stressed." Marvin finished what he was doing and let Jack sit up, his headache was thankfully lessened now.

 

"I know, any news?" Both egos shook their heads, nothing had changed then. "Anti?"

 

"Still nothing, he won't come out or even talk to anyone. JJ's been leaving stuff at the door though, food, drink. He's pretty sure Anti's been taking the stuff though." Seeing Jack's confusion Jackie elaborated, "I may have taught JJ and Anti morse, not that Anti's responding to that either."

 

"Ah I was wondering how that was working, and Chase?" He looked over to Marvin.

 

"He came out for food and stuff, but he's avoiding all of us, especially Jackie, although I find it ironic that he's avoiding Anti like the plague and they share a bedroom wall." That would have been rather amusing in any other situation.

 

"This has to end." The silence was thick, nobody really knew what to say beyond that. And then Jack was suddenly over Jackie's shoulder, "whoa!"

 

"You're right, but you need to eat first, doctor's and hero's orders." Jackie was heading to the living room, Marvin following close behind, not even trying to cover up his laughter.

 

"Hey I can walk you know!" Jack wasn't even struggling, Jackie had such a strong grip on him that there really wasn't a way out of it even if he did want to get down.

 

"Yes I'm aware." Jackie dropped him onto the living room couch, "now, please stay here." He watched as Jackie walked off to the kitchen. 

 

"Jack," Marvin was leaning over the couch, "I'm going to try and get Anti to come out, but you know, you are right, this does need to end. It's gone on for far too long, but you should talk to Chase first. As stubborn as he is he'll listen to you, until then let the rest of us handle Anti ok?" 

 

"I will," Jack nodded, then leaned in closer to Marvin, already failing to hold back giggles as he stage whispered, "as soon as the moms let me go." 

 

"Mom huh?" There was an odd noise and Marvin was suddenly gone, a puff of green smoke taking his place, Henrik stood just to the side of where the magician had just been. 

 

Jack stared, "did he just…?"

 

"I believe he did." They both looked back and forth from where Marvin had been and to each other, before they both burst out laughing. 

 

"do you know how long he's been trying to teleport and all it took was you scaring him!" Henrik came around to join him on the couch, when he saw Jackie coming back from the kitchen. Plates in hand and JJ following with drinks.

 

"Hey Schneep, why didn't you say something? I would've made something for you too." He set down the plates on the coffee table, a couple sandwiches and some celery and peanut butter, and took the drinks from JJ who went back towards the kitchen. 

 

"Oh he said something alright," Jack slid the coffee over to Henrik, and JJ came back with two chairs from the dining room, giving one to Jackie. "Scared Marvin enough that he teleported."

 

Jackie had to put his own drink down he was laughing so hard, "oh he's gonna throw a fit about that."

 

They talked for a bit, enjoying the food Jackie made, Marvin had indeed teleported and had made his complaints very well known when he finally joined them again. Their conversation had taken a turn though, despite the light atmosphere that morning the space that Anti and Chase would normally fill was very obviously empty. Even though Chase would always voice his disdain for Anti, there were times when their interactions went better than others. This more than likely would have been one of those times.

 

So here he was, standing in front of Chase's room, he wasn’t nervous per-say, but he wasn’t sure what he would do if Chase wouldn’t listen to him.

 

Jack opened the door, the fatherly ego was just sitting on his bed. Back to him, clearly not wanting company. He took a seat at Chase’s desk, spinning the rolling chair to face the other. The atmosphere was surprisingly calm, though he wasn’t sure how long that would last. This conversation needed to happen, it needed to happen months ago. “Let's have a talk Chase.” 

 

Chase didn’t turn to face Jack, just made tired, vague motions. “So you can lecture me about my attitude towards the glitch?” his tone didn’t have nearly as much venom as it usually did when talking about Anti.

 

Jack spoke softly, “I'm not going to lecture you Chase, I understand that you don't like Anti.” he watched in surprise as Chase seemed to curl in on himself, as if that statement hurt him.

 

“That's an understatement.” Again, he just sounded tired, his body language conflicting with his words, like saying that weighed on him more than he cared to show.

 

"And I know you’ve heard this all before, god knows how many times you and Jackie have gone at it, but you're being very harsh on him.” Jack was starting to get an idea of what was going on.

 

Chase finally turns, re-situating himself on the bed to face him, hat in hand, worrying at the brim. “Harsh isn't the word for it, besides it’s not anything that he doesn’t deserve.” Chase looked so tired, and not entirely convinced by his own words. And then it was like a switch had been flipped. There was a resolve there that hadn't been there just seconds before, but there was something else, something desperate. “Listen Seán everybody’s told you that you don’t understand, but I know that you do. You created us, you gave us our stories, and you do know exactly what he’s done. And then for some reason you expect me to just forgive him! I can’t just forget, I can’t just move on like everyone else apparently has.” 

 

He gets up onto the bed with Chase, gently taking his hat. He replaces it with his own hands, rubbing slow circles over Chase's hands. “I'm not asking you to forgive him, I'm not asking you to forget what he did! I'm asking you to give him a chance,he's not the same, and I know even you’ve seen that. Think about this from his perspective, you just seem to hate him for no reason. I know you're afraid that he's going to turn on us, and that you have to protect everyone, but I know he won’t. ” 

 

“How do you know?” that simple question is so full of fear and _hope._

 

And Jack is pulling Chase into a hug, the fatherly ego quickly giving in to it. “Call it intuition, but Anti has been extremely respectful of all the boundaries you've set. Every single one of them.”

 

Chase pulled back slowly before flopping on the bed, hands flung into the air before letting them cover his face, “I know! I know… I just wish that everyone would be more cautious, _think_ a bit more before just trusting him…” 

 

Jack paused for a moment before continuing, "you know, the others didn't accept Anti as readily as you think they did."

 

Chase moved his arm from his face just even to peek over it, "Oh?"

 

"Jackie wasn't fond of Anti either, nearly the entire first month Jackie didn't let him out of his sight. You know what he saw?"

 

"What?" 

 

"That Anti is extremely accident prone, he’s clumsy. He can hardly walk through the house without tripping over _something._ And then, one time, Jackie accidentally spilled soup on him and _Anti_ was the one who started apologizing. I think that's when he started _protecting_ Anti instead of protecting _us_ from him." Chase had stopped covering his face to just stare at Jack.

 

And then Chase was laughing, it had been too long since Jack had seen him actually relax like this, "when the hell did that happen?"

 

"One of the many times you've skipped a meal, I'm sure." There was tension that suddenly broke and the low burning had finally stopped. They had settled into a quiet moment, Chase finally relaxing, quietly laughing as Jack relayed how everyone had finally come to accept Anti into the family.  

 

As everything settled into quiet moment between the two, Chase sat up, “I’m sorry.”

 

Jack just smiles “Apology accepted, but I think it’s the others that you really owe an apology to.”

 

Jack got Chase to finally come out of his room, Marvin had been heading downstairs when he spotted them, He had looked to Jack in a hopeful manner. To which Jack just nudged Chase towards him and they had walked off together, Chase worry at his hat brim the whole way. Everything was getting back to normal, or as normal as living in a house with six other people that were once a figment of your imagination could be. 

 

He was grateful the fire under his skin had finally dissipated, however, something else was taking hold. A draft was coming from Anti’s room, It was pleasantly cool for now, but Jack had no doubt that left unchecked, like the heat, the cold feeling would be just as burning. 

And again, here he was, standing in front of a door, Anti’s door, and he was nervous this time. His hands ached just thinking about the burning cold, and Jack couldn’t bring himself to touch the door again. It got colder, as if in response to his hesitance, and any words that he might have had died in his throat rather quickly. Too cold. He couldn’t handle that again, not right now.

 

Two weeks. Two weeks, Jack had made another attempt to confront Anti, but just like he had anticipated the cold had grown outward and he couldn’t bring himself to speak or touch the door. The cold draft seemed to follow him through the house, it was progressing faster than the heat had and Jack was having trouble keeping warm. The others had tried talking to him as well, Chase even tried to talk to him, nervous as he was. Anti just wouldn’t leave his room.

 

* * *

 

 

Somehow in all this mess, the others had managed to plan a video with all the egos, and Jack was grateful for the distraction. They had been creating the script, but had to stop as JJ kept signing sarcastic comments, and making everyone lose it.

 

“Ok, ok, I’m going to get some drinks before we start again.” Chase managed to stop laughing long enough to say. He got a chorus of approvals as he left the recording room, making his way down the long hall to the kitchen. It was good to make up with his brothers, but he hadn’t been able to really even make an attempt to apologize to Anti. Sure he’d been able to say his apologies through the door, but that wasn’t enough, it wasn’t good enough. 

 

There was a noise in the kitchen and Chase stopped dead in his tracks at the end of the hall, kitchen in full view. And there was Anti rummaging through the fridge, the hoodie he was wearing engulfed him. Anti turned to leave, food in hand, when he noticed Chase, completely frozen mid step. In the most polite, but truthful way that Chase would describe later, Anti looked like death. Bags under his eyes, obviously not sleeping, and much thinner than Chase remembered, had he not been eating? 

 

The familiar noise of static filled the room, “Anti wait!” No luck, he was gone before Chase could even think about going to him. Chase felt sick, he had been the cause of this hadn’t he?


End file.
